I've always wanted a New Service. I finally found one, 44-40, 7.5 inch barrel, at a good price. Yeah, it's been reblued and it needs new grips (stocks) but inside it is spotless, locks up tight and has a sweet DA and SA trigger pull.
I was taking some measurements: chamber mouth, groove and land diameters, etc. when I found that the barrel has been squashed to oval shape right where the tape is in the pictures. There's a difference in bore diameter of .030" between horizontal and vertical.
So.... what to do? I'm looking for a replacement barrel, any length, in 44-40. But if I don't find one, I'll have to cut off the barrel at the edge of the tape, leaving the barrel about 4.25" long. I'm looking for suggestions as to what front sight to put on. Should I leave the sights fixed or install an adjustable rear sight? Not looking to make a silk purse from a sow's ear but here's an opportunity to be creative.







Did a little messing around with Paint. Barrel at 4.25" Looks wicked, in a good way.

Some here would make it a fitz special or just snub it.

I have this cut down 3" Colt Single action 2nd generation .44 special barrel for sale over at that other forum. The threads are the same for the New Service. The sight looks short but can be removed to make higher. I think I have $45 on it. not sure.



Then you can make your gun look like this!

I believe I have an extra New Service barrel (.44 Russian & Special) in the parts box.

Send me a PM

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Muley Gil, PM sent.

The bore needs to be checked on that. If memory serves, .44 Russ./Spl standard was .430" and the .44/40 was .427".
In vintage parts there were a lot of variation mfg to mfg.
I have seen Trapdoor Spf. barrel mike .456" and another .463".
But It might work. It's worth a shot.

When I checked my measurements I figured if I reload using .429 bullets they'd just fit in my chambers. So maybe a 44 special barrel would work.

I'd cut it to about three inches. If you don't like it, then replace the bbl and re-blue it. If you do like it, just re-blue it. Nothing lost!

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Easy...

Find a .44-40 Single action army barrel in the length you want, and send it off and have the writing obliterated and then stamped correctly for the New Service.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

So what I'm hearing is the SAA barrels have the same thread as the NS? How about distance from barrel shoulder to front of cylinder? Roughly the same or maybe a tad longer to allow for setting B/C gap? If so that does open up some possibilities.

Come to think of it, I'd probably have to set a SAA barrel back a thread to clock the front sight anyway, so I'd have material to set B/C gap.

I haven't checked my .44-40 New Service barrel, but as near as I can tell the .44 Special barrel I have shows a .427 groove diameter. Seems to me I have always heard and read Colt ran their .44 specials at that groove diameter. While I'm thinking about it, I could use a .38-40 barrel to replace one that was chopped before I got the gun.

Sure do love the look of the New Service when it is wearing the 4 1/2-inch factory length and that one looks mighty close.

Oh, face it. I just love the Colt New Service any way it comes.

Since I knew the 7.5 inch barrel was no good, I went ahead and cut it off. I misjudged the length of the oval bore. It ends up the longest this barrel can be is 3.85 inches. Not quite a snub nose yet.

Post some pics of the completed project.

If you do decide to use a Colt SAA bbl,,they do have the same thread (20tpi & .690"d(?) IIRC).
The SAA bbl is within a few .000" of the NS bbl diameter (straight shank style),,a little shy, but they vary a little too.

The SAA bbl does have a shorter threaded shank than the NS bbl though. So you would need to lathe cut a new shoulder on the SAA bbl to fit the NS frame, fit the B/C gap, & get the front site up at 12oclock.
Probably end up cutting/recutting the forcing cone.

Then there's that ejector rod stud on the side of the SAA bbl to deal with...

Colt 1917 Army

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Here's a pic of an extremely rare oval bore barrel that Colt experimented with almost 100 years ago:



It ultimately was a failure because it required oval bullets. Since the cases were round, all the powder would dribble out in your holster. You also had to carefully line up the oval bullets with the oval barrel, and that took too long to load.







April Fools! It's really just the ruined part of my New Service barrel that I cut off with a hack saw. Did I fool anyone?



I know there's some distortion because I didn't cut square but really the bore is .030" taller than it is wide. I can't imagine what could've squashed the barrel like that.

I'm hoping to get a 5.5" replacement barrel.

I'm rather partial to the New Service as well, especially the 4.5-5.5 inch barrel lengths! And one in .44 Special is just cool! Dale

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So, what if I put a nickel barrel on a blued revolver? Would that look cool or what?



Thanks to Muley Gil for providing a new barrel!

Barrel isn't installed yet, just screwed in by hand to see what it would look like. The groove diameter on this 44 Russian/44 Special barrel mics at .427 inch. Should work well with 44-40 bullets.

I like it!!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Gunboat,

I'd have my gunsmith install it then enjoy the gun. It lost its collector status when its barrel was squished so no matter what you do it will always be a parts and pieces gun. Buffing off the barrels lettering, restamping and reblueing woudn't make it shoot any better. That money would be better spent on bullet moulds to experiment with. At least that's how it looks to me.

Gil

Edit to add: You mentioned an adjustable sight in your original post. A J frame sight is fairly low and compact along with requiring relatively little gunsmithing to install. I put one on a model 36 once using only small files, a drill and a tap. It looked factory installed when it was done but it did take a long time.

I decided I'm gonna leave the barrel nickel and the rest blue. Like K22fan suggested, that way I can spend money on reloading dies, brass, bullets, etc. I'm also going to get a set of reproduction grips. Or would pearl grips be the icing on this here cupcake?

How it ended up:





Got the barrel torqued in just right, gap set, forcing cone cut. First six shots made a 1.5" group at 25 yards. Windage right on, elevation a bit low so I'll have to do some filing on the front sight. Pretty soon I'll have to order dies and boolits!

I'm really liking this revolver. I call it the "Muley Pinto".

"I call it the 'Muley Pinto'."

Awwww shucks. (Dig toe of boot into ground)

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

With new Siles grips in place and the top of the barrel temporarily coated with flat black paint for the very rare western Pennsylvania days when the sun is out.